Last Sunday’s match against Everton saw an all too familiar issue played out for Chelsea supporters and I’m not just talking about another three points in an away win and tremendous vocal support to boot.

No, this was another rearranged kick-off at an inconvenient time, all at the behest of football’s paymasters: The Broadcasters.

To compound the issue, there was only one direct train from Euston scheduled to arrive in Liverpool (via Manchester) in time for kick-off.

A quirk of the rearranged fixtures saw Manchester United play Swansea two hours before Chelsea’s kick-off in Liverpool. This meant that the 08.20 was the only train London-based United supporters (of whom there are many) could catch to make their kick-off.

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Not for the first time this season the long-suffering but insanely dedicated supporters faced a long uncomfortable journey on a rammed train. Some would be unlucky, not able to get on, even though they had tickets, leaving them understandably frustrated and angry.

Well, so what. Chelsea is a successful club and there is a huge demand globally to watch them play on TV. Inconveniencing the supporters who actually travel to the games is a small price to pay for the billions that Broadcasters pump in to the game isn’t it?

Err no. This is an issue that many supporters, having been treated with utter contempt and disregard by those responsible for re-arranging the fixtures, feel very strongly about.

During the run in to a season where Chelsea hope to win the Premier League title, most Chelsea matches, home and away, have been moved to accommodate the demands and appetite of TV.

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We now face Middlesbrough next Monday night at home, followed by West Brom away on the Friday night, incredulously Watford at home on the following Monday night before the final match at home to Sunderland on Sunday 21st May.

But this is no end of season trend. The grim reality is that only three of Chelsea’s away matches this season have kicked off at 3.00 pm on a Saturday and as a result most have been subject to a re-scheduled kick-off time, often at short notice.

Throughout the season there is an agreed notice period for fixtures rearranged at the request of TV companies of a minimum of six weeks.

However, this is regularly missed and is even reduced between March and May.

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As Sunday’s fixtures and Chelsea’s recent trip to Man Utd last month prove this has a severe impact on travelling supporters who face increased travel costs, often having to take time off work and the dubious privilege of sitting in a car or train for a round trip of on average 5-6 hours.

Of course, doing this on a Sunday with a Bank Holiday the following day is one thing, but this situation worsens when the match is mid-week when often there are no trains to take supporters back home.

Of course, Chelsea are not the only Premier League supporters to suffer this inconvenience and Chelsea Supporters’ Trust Board member, Tim Rolls, together with representatives from Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust and the FSF, are working hard to address these issues with the Broadcasters, Rail networks and crucially the Premier League.

The excellent analysis produced by them reveals the clear impact that matches rearranged at the request of TV companies, and those scheduled for midweek slots by the Premier League have on the away supporters.

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These issues and a series of recommendations have recently been separately presented to Sky TV, BT Sport and Premier League executives.

They were also raised last week at a wide-ranging supporter representatives meeting with the Premier League, attended by their Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore.

Things move slowly in this environment, but at the very least the ‘powers that be’ are now hopefully aware of the impact their seemingly arbitrary decisions have on the football supporters who invest the most in following their team.

Given the regularity of the chaos witnessed with the travel arrangements last Sunday, it is hoped that regular dialogue with the Broadcasters, Rail networks and Premier League can reduce the inconvenience to a minimum.

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Better notice of fixture changes allowing supporters to organise cheaper tickets would be a good start, as travel by public transport, particularly train, gets more expensive the closer to matches you get.

Joined up thinking to refrain from scheduling a ‘Southampton v Hull’ midweek fixture for example, would make a massive difference. Perhaps a maximum travel time or distance could be implemented for travelling supporters and encouraging the use and subsidy of ‘special trains’ to ferry supporters there and back in the absence of network trains would also help.

Furthermore, dialogue between the three key players might actually avoid scheduling fixtures when the rail networks plan engineering works or have decided to provide fewer trains as a result.

The most important issue though is to actually acknowledge the difficulties faced by supporters on a weekly basis when travelling to follow their team and the impact unilateral decisions have on them.

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Considering both the Premier League and Broadcaster’s claims about how important passionate away supporters are to their ‘product’, one hopes they might take these concerns seriously, as they did by capping away tickets to a maximum of £30.

Certain managers who endlessly complain about fixture congestion and a lack of enthusiasm from their supporters should perhaps make themselves aware of the issues, time and expense those supporters face in actually getting to those matches.

Antonio Conte on the other hand, celebrated the win against Everton on Sunday with the Chelsea away faithful and it was refreshing to hear his post-match comments on how important that support and bond is for him and the team.

In a world where the professional game has become very distant from the supporters who give up so much to follow it, I have a feeling that Antonio Conte may be one of the rare few of his ilk who actually gets that.

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Yet another very good reason why he has endeared himself so completely with Chelsea supporters this season.